Wallflower at the Web Party — JONATHAN ABRAMS was in a spot. He could take the safe bet and accept the $30 million that Google was offering him for Friendster, the social networking Web start-up he began only a year earlier, in 2002. Saying yes to Google would provide a quick …

'Second Life' to begin selling real names — For anyone who has used the virtual world "Second Life," the last names Gjellerup, Godel or Stapovic probably mean a lot more than their real last names. — That's because historically, "Second Life" users have had to choose names from an ever-changing …

Second Life to Start Selling Names — Second Life is going to start selling "real" names to people (just like they do with virtual land). CNET is reporting that Linden Labs, the creators, have decided "to charge individuals who want a real last name a $100 setup fee and a $50-a-year maintenance fee.

iPod Killers for Christmas 2006 — We have run the iPod Killers for Christmas/Summer series since 2004. In that time we reported on 149 portable players and NOT one iPod killer from the bunch. That said, we may actually have a couple of genuine challengers to Apple.

How to use RSS & BitTorrent to download TV shows — Are you tired of scanning several BitTorrent sites for the latest episodes of your favorite TV-show? You should definitely try using RSS feeds then. RSS and BitTorrent are a perfect match. — What the heck is RSS?

Who Should Buy Yahoo! — I got this comment on my Buying YHOO post last week: … My first thought was that I had sold too soon. My second thought was "no, not a carrier". And the next thing I did was send the comment around to some of my friends who are active in the market.

A Loopy Deal That Actually Makes Sense — IS Google's $1.65 billion acquisition of the video Web site YouTube another milestone in the annals of the Internet? Or is it evidence of a second silly season? The answer to both questions: Yep, you'd better believe it.

MobiBLU Cube 2 Now Available in the US — For those who like their MP3 players tiny, MobiBLU is now selling the second generation DAH-1500i, dubbed appropriately the Cube 2. Still the same size as the last generation, the Cube 2 offers smoother styling and a few more features.

Edelman and the one-sided conversation — The first inkling I had that Edelman PR had stumbled again in its social media efforts on behalf of client WalMart came early yesterday when Laurel English emailed me a copy of the MediaPost story. Shortly after that, Donna Simmons …

Google Reader Redux — The new version of Reader has been out there long enough (and is now stable enough) that I have some time to catch my breath and make this post (my post-launch post last year came only a couple of days after the big announcement). I've jotted down some of my thoughts …

Project Glidepath 2.0 Now Ready For Download! — After 3 months of experience with the Project Glidepath Technical Preview, we have now released Project Glidepath 2.0! — It contains many additional features and facilities including multiple factories and better support for VB.Net along with C#.

World's worst use of a jpeg. — A jpeg is good for a lot of things, but a live data feed is not one of them. In fact it might be violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. — The Seattle Fire Department has been hosting a live html feed of the latest 911 calls to the Seattle Fire Department.

STAReBOOK e-book reader to hit China, US next month — We're still not sure exactly how successful this whole eBook thing will be. That said, if you believe Sony, "overwhelming demand" delayed the release of the PRS-500 until November, meaning that surely people will be rushing the streets to get their paws on an eBook.

Digital is driving first half world music sales — Digital sales up 106% the first six months of 2006; total music sales down 4% — Sales of digital music in the first half of 2006 rose 106% to US$945 million when compared with the first six months of last year.

Did venture firm Sevin Rosen orchestrate snow job? — Last Saturday, we wrote a piece about the decision by Sevin Rosen Funds, a big-name venture capital firm, to bag plans to raise another fund. The firm cited "terrible" investment conditions. — The rarity of the move suggested significance …